Our new Society Coordinators

Sisters Agnes Lanfermann and Elizabeth Vadakekara are two of 625 Medical Mission Sisters in 17 nations trying to be present to others in the spirit of Jesus the Healer.

On Saturday, April 24, 2010, our new Society Leadership Team took office in London. We offer gratitude and prayerful good wishes to Sister Carmelita Perez, who has completed her six-year term as our Society Coordinator, and Sister Suzanne Maschek, who has finished her term as Assistant Society Coordinator.

Sister Agnes Lanfermann is our new Society Coordinator. She was born and raised in a small village in northwest Germany. A published author, Sister Agnes has studied pastoral psychology, philosophy and theology. She has lived in Frankfurt for the past 25 years, teaching at the Jesuit University and giving workshops at the Institute of Mission Spirituality. She has served in leadership as our Sector Coordinator in Europe, and as our District Coordinator and Formation Coordinator in Germany.

Sister-Doctor Elizabeth Vadakekara is our new Assistant Society Coordinator. Born in Kerala, India, Sister Elizabeth has served at Kurji Holy Family Hospital, Patna; Holy Family Hospital, Mandar; and Holy Family Hospital in Bongao, the Philippines. She spent 12 years at the Mundakayan Medical Trust Hospital in Kerala, where she developed community health programs in villages around the hospital.

Wishing to expand her skills, Sister Elizabeth studied child psychiatry and began working in the areas of suicide prevention, drug addiction, and HIV/AIDS at a crisis intervention center. She has been our Sector Coordinator in Asia for the past six years, and coordinated many aspects of our outreach to victims of the 2004 tsunami.

Sisters Agnes and Elizabeth will attend the annual SEDOS meeting in Rome in May, and will visit and introduce themselves to the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (CICLSAL). Sister Agnes will also attend the International Union of Superiors General Plenary Assembly in Rome.

Please join us in prayer, thanksgiving, and celebration at this special time in our history.